Yevgeny Kulikov

Yevgeny Kulikov

Personal information
Birth name	Yevgeny Nikolayevich Kulikov
Nationality	Russian
Born	May 25, 1950 (1950-05-25) (age 66) Bogdanovich, Sverdlovsk Oblast, Russian SFSR, Soviet Union
Height	1.80 m (5 ft 11 in)
Weight	75 kg (165 lb)
Sport
Country	Soviet Union
Sport	Speed skating
Medal record Men's speed skating Representing the  Soviet Union Olympic Games 1976 Innsbruck 500 m 1980 Lake Placid 500 m

Yevgeny Nikolayevich Kulikov (Russian: Евге́ний Никола́евич Кулико́в) (born 25 May 1950 in Sverdlovsk Oblast) is a former speed skater who specialised in the sprint.

Yevgeny Kulikov trained at Burevestnik Voluntary Sports Society. Competing for the Soviet Union he became the first to break the 38 seconds barrier on the 500 m in 1975 and over the course of the next two weeks he lowered his own 500 m world record three more times, finishing with a time of 37.00, exactly one second below the previous world record. He would remain the 500 m world record holder for 8 years. For his achievements he received the 1975 Oscar Mathisen Award.

At the 1976 Winter Olympics in Innsbruck, he won gold on the 500 m despite the fact that he had a cold and a fever during his race. As the defending 500 m Olympic Champion and world record holder, he won silver at the 1980 Winter Olympics in Lake Placid, being beaten by Eric Heiden.

At the World Sprint Championships, Kulikov won silver in 1975 and bronze in 1977. In 1981, Kulikov lowered his own 500 m world record once more, becoming the first man to break the 37-second barrier.

Records

World records

Over the course of his career, Kulikov skated nine world records:

Discipline	Time	Date	Location
500 m	37.99	15 March 1975	Medeo
500 m	37.97	16 March 1975	Medeo
500 m	37.20	28 March 1975	Medeo
500 m	37.00	29 March 1975	Medeo
Sprint combination	153.250	29 March 1975	Medeo
1000 m	1:15.70	20 March 1976	Medeo
Sprint combination	151.190	21 March 1976	Medeo
1000 m	1:15.33	19 March 1977	Medeo
500 m	36.91	28 March 1981	Medeo

Source: SpeedSkatingStats.com^[1]

Personal records

References

• Yevgeny Kulikov at SpeedSkatingStats.com
• Legends of Soviet Sport: Yevgeny Kulikov

Awards
Preceded by Sten Stensen	Oscar Mathisen Award 1975	Succeeded by Sten Stensen